Baby platys and adult fish have ich... mis-use of Acriflavine 10/30/05
I have a 23 gal. tank. I have 15 baby platys about 2 months old. some are over an inch long and 3 are about a quarter inch long. I also have 3 adult platys, 2 neon dwarf rainbows and 1 Raphael catfish. They all have ich. I gave them Acriflavine.
<Not efficacious>
I didn't give them the full amount. guy at the pet store said not to with the baby fish. after 3 days they still had it. I treated them again but not the full amount. now the ich got worse. I don't know what to do any more I think there going to die.
<Mmm, try reading... here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm and the linked FAQs files above>
How long does it take before the Acriflavine starts to kill them?
<Generally doesn't>
2 platys are swimming real weird and stay at the bottom. I'm was going to put my babies in a 5 gallon tank. I put one platy in there instead. swimming real crazy and lays at bottom of tank. I did a 25% water change. Put the charcoal back in. Tank is still green. Should I start all over with the right amount of Acriflavine.
<I wouldn't... read>
will that be to much since I don't know how much is still in there. should I treat with salt first and if so how much. Or should I treat them with Acriflavine and if so how much. Or both. Should I take one third of the water out and retreat them, should I put salt in tank with the catfish. how much. I need help really bad. My ph is 7.0 - 7.2.  It was 7.6. Is this effecting them. I'm sorry I am such an idiot. I just want it to go away. I have to do something I know or they will die anyway. 
<Mmm, time "is of the essence"... you should read, come to an understanding of what you're up to here... and act, soon... With a medicine that will kill ich. Bob Fenner> 
 

New Tank + No QT = ICK
Hi and thanks for having such a great site. Here's my setup: 20 gallon freshwater tank, whisper filter, heater usually set to 77 but is at 86 right now, live plants, 20w full spectrum fluorescent bulb, 1 powder blue Gourami, 2 clown loaches, water treated with AquaPlus tap water conditioner, no hospital tank  
my tank is newly set up, and is just about done with the 1st cycle, ammonia=0, nitrites= trace, nitrates=12.5, pH= 7.2.
My problem is Ick and an unknown white fuzzy patch.
One of the clown loaches has Ick, a persistent case of it actually. I have been treating the tank with Ich Attack for over a week now and the ich is now worse than it ever was. Saturday (one week after first treatment) I doubled the  dosage (as was recommended on the bottle for severe infections), and have been  double dosing it every day since. The LFS told me not to do any water change or  gravel vac until the ich is gone. (I had been doing a 20% water change
and  gravel vac daily during the first week of treatment prior to this last Sat) The odd thing (to me) is, that only one of the clown loaches has ich, the other  one is fine! And the Gourami does not have ich either.  
White fuzzy patch on the powder blue Gourami's dorsal fin (fungus??/mold??). The spot is on the very top of the fin (on the top edge) When  I first noticed the white spot, I thought it was ich. This spot however has  grown to just a
tad bigger than the head of a pin and looks in appearance to be  fuzzy. It is only this one very small spot and is not growing rapidly at all, nonetheless, is still there and I don't want for it to become a problem. Of  course during the first week of treatment this spot has not gotten any better and has grown ever so slightly.  
The Ich Attack claims to be 100% organic and treats diseases caused by Ich, Fungus, Protozoans and Dinoflagellates. Directions say to add 1 teaspoon of Ich Attack for every 10 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat dosage daily for one
week.  For severe infections the daily treatment may be increased by 50-100% (1.5 to 2  teaspoons) and the treatment continued for longer thank 1 week. For Ich (white  spots) treat for 3-4 days after the last spots are gone. Do at
least a 20% water  change at the end of treatment. As I said, the first week I used the initial dosage. Since Saturday I have been double dosing and the ich on the loach is worse than ever. He does rub on the gravel and ornaments more now too. He eats just fine and acts fine otherwise.
I am new to this stuff and am not sure of what different meds might be used on delicate loaches and also with live plants in the tank. Also of growing concern is the white fuzzy patch on the Gourami (who is also eating and acting just fine). I have looked and looked for info on fungus similar to what he has  to no avail, or maybe it's just so new that it doesn't yet resemble pics that I have seen of other fish with fungus. I do not have a digital camera so I cannot  provide a picture of it (not that even a pic would do much good as it is so  small). Do you have any recommendations as to what I should do to deal with the ich and this white fuzzy spot? I am truly at a loss here and from all I read, LFS is not my friend and only will direct me to spend money on things that will not help my fish.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! And thank you in advance for your help!
Nancy  
<Hi Nancy, Don here. Please start the water changes again using the gravel vac. This is very important. The parasite reproduces in the gravel. Do not add any more of the med. Great to see you are testing, you will need to continue for a while. You do have two problems here, but the cure is the same. Salt. Please read here on it's proper use. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32 Take note of the Ick lifecycle and continue to treat for at least 2 weeks after the last spot drops. If during treatment many spots disappear suddenly, vac the gravel very well. They will still be alive and setting up to reproduce. Getting them out before this happens will give you a 1,000 to 1 return on your efforts. The salt will kill any you miss. Salt is 100% effective and will also knock off the fungus. However the levels needed will at least stress, if not kill, the bacteria in your filter. You will need to recycle after treatment. See the hassle (and lives) a QT tank can save you now?> 
 

The Joy of Ick
Hi, I am getting back into the "Joy" of aquarium ownership after about 10 years of time off from the hobby as my daughter recently got one for her Birthday. I have a 10 gallon aquarium with an Aqua Tech Bio Filtration System along with a bubble curtain. In the tank are 2 Swordtails Male & Female; 2 Red Flame Dwarf Gouramis; 2 Guppies Male & Female; 1 Algae Eater. 
OK, here is my question. When I originally began to purchase fish for my tank about 3 weeks ago a male sword tail developed Ick. I believe that he may have brought it with him as it became present the day after I brought him home and there were no other fish in the tank except for the guppies and they were both fine and showed no signs of illness. He died about a day and a half later. I began treating for Ick using Jungle Ick Clear. The male Guppy developed Ick on his head and the other fish began picking at him so I placed him in an aquarium net breeder as the picking developed into a sore. The guy at the fish store said for me to continue treating for the Ick for 30 days and to use Mela Fix for seven days to help with the sore and to prevent secondary infections. He also told me that my guppies would probably die. 
I have been putting the Ick meds 1/2 tablet in the AM as well as the 25% water change and the Mela Fix in the evening. The Directions on the Ick meds Say to add 1 tablet and if it doesn't clear then to repeat it every 24 hours along with a 25% water change until gone. The Ick has cleared up on the Guppies head and his sore is looking a lot better. 
The Ick clear ingredients are Victoria Green, Acriflavine and the Mela Fix is Melaleuca. Do I need to make any changes or do I continue to do what I am doing and how long do I really need to treat for the Ick? 
Is there another medicine that is better or that might work faster. If I have to continue getting up extra early then I will, but it sure would be nice to get some extra sleep. 
The Guppies were my cycle fish so I figured that they would die and now that they have made it I am really rooting for him. As of now the other fish seem to be doing fine. Thanks in advance for your help. Your site has been invaluable to me. Sincerely, Christi
<Your fish are getting better, so I do not want you to stop or change what you are doing. It was good advice to treat for 30 days. It was also a little self-serving since he's selling you all that expensive medicine when salt is all you needed. Salt is cheap, less stressful on the fish and is 100% effective. Please read here on Ick. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32  Take note of the life cycle and continue treatment for at least 2 weeks after the last spot drops. Always, do water changes with a gravel vac. The parasite reproduces on the bottom of the tank. You should be testing your water until you are sure your bio filtration is re-established. Also, when stocking guppies or swords it is best to have one male and 3 or 4 females. The males are aggressive breeders and can harass a lone female to death. Best to spread out the aggression. Don>

The Joy of Ick part2
Hi Don, Thanks for your help and for reassuring me. Other things in my life are a bit hairy right now and keeping this tank has been great therapy. So when everyone else is pointing out how wrong I am, It was nice to hear that I am doing "something" right. Sadly Mr. Guppy didn't make it this morning. Although the guy recommended the meds in the hopes of me buying them all from him, I went to Wal-mart and saved $2.00 to $3.00 on the products. I do have Aquarium Salt (which the helpful lady at Wal-mart recommended, not the guy from the fish store) and I added it when I first set up the tank and when I made water changes. In the article it said to raise the level by 1ppm per day. I am trying to figure out how to do this in real measurements. Such as do I use a tablespoon or teaspoon and how many. My hubby is a scientist and he can figure it out but he is at work right now, so I will have him do the figuring when he gets home. Side note: I knew about needing more females to go with my males but the "guy" said that I can't have any more fish. He said that what I had was all that my tank could handle. Since I do not have the money or room for anything bigger I kept it at what he recommended. Thanks again and I will keep up with what I am doing unless you recommend different. Have a great day. Sincerely, Christi
<Then using salt at these levels you can not measure by volume. The salt should be weighed or a refractor should be used. I once weighed out a dose of 76 grams using course aquarium salt. It was over a 1/4 cup. Did the same with a finer grain Kosher salt and it was about an eighth of a cup. Same amount of salt, but the grain size makes a big difference in it's volume. We're near the upper limits for the fish here, so we can't make a mistake. Weigh it out or pick up a refractor. I make a brine with tank water and added it back over two days. No problems. As to the guppy stocking. Again you got good advice as to number of fish, it's just the mix that is off, IMO. With the male guppy gone you could return the female and pick up another lady sword. Don>